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LOT 0686
Roman Ring with Nubian Bust Cameo
2ND CENTURY A.D.
1 1/8 in. (7.53 grams, 28.75 mm overall, 20.36 mm internal diameter (approximate size British V, USA 10 1/2, Europe 23.77, Japan 22)).
A gold finger ring with granules flanking an ellipsoid cell containing an onyx cameo facing bust of a Nubian with dressed hair executed in the half-round.
ProvenanceAcquired 1970-1990.
Ex property of a deceased lady.
Accompanied by scholarly note TL05452 by Dr Ronald Bonewitz.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.114494-195582.
Cf. Chadour, A.B., Rings. The Alice and Louis Koch Collection, volume I, Leeds, 1994, item 419, for type; and for the bezel see Marshall, F. H., Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, in the British Museum, 1907, 87, no.509.
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LOT 0686
Roman Ring with Nubian Bust Cameo
Estimate £4,500 - 6,500€5,220 - 7,540 (for guidance only)$6,080 - 8,780 (for guidance only)
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Roman and Other Bead Necklace
6th-4th century B.C. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £39
A restrung group of mainly glass and faience beads of various types, sizes and dates, including tubular, facetted, spherical, coin, biconical and other types, in various shades of green. 10.5 grams, 70.5 cm long
Acquired 1980-2015. Ex Abelita family collection. -
Roman Satyr Traveller Gemstone in Gold Ring
1st-3rd century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £4,940
A garnet cabochon with intaglio satyr traveller advancing with staff and pouch over his shoulder, set into a later gold finger ring. 8.22 grams, 27.20 mm overall, 22.95 mm internal diameter (approximate size British O, USA 7, Europe 14.98, Japan 14)
Acquired 1960s-1990s. Late Alison Barker collection, a retired London barrister. This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11619-199018.
The subject was popular on Roman gems: Silenus and the satyrs, grotesque hedonists, unrestrained in their desire for sex and wine, and yet immortal companions of Dionysus, were considered ‘cruder than men and yet somehow wiser, combining mischief with wisdom, lewdness with skill in music, animalism with divinity'. The counterpoint of the divine and the atavistic appealed to the Roman sense of moral superiority. -
Roman Mars Gemstone in Gold Ring
1st-2nd century A.D. and laterSold for (Inc. bp): £1,690
An ellipsoid carnelian gemstone with intaglio figure of Mars wearing a helmet and bearing a cornucopia in one hand and a miniature figure of Victory in the other; set in a later gold ring. 8.93 grams, 21.88 mm overall, 17.70 mm internal diameter (approximate size British N, USA 6 1/2, Europe 13.72, Japan 13)
Ex Marianne Maspero, 1980. with Pierre Berge & Associes, Paris, France, 16 May 2018, lot 230. English private collection.
Mars was the ancient Roman god of war and agriculture; the majority of his festivals were held in March, when the season for military campaigning commenced, whilst the season for farming ended. Mars symbolised military power as a method for securing peace and stability and was believed a protective father of the Roman people. In Roman mythology, Mars raped Silvia, thus fathering Romulus and Remus, the famous twins suckled by the She-wolf and founders of the city of Rome. The animals most closely associated with Mars are the woodpecker, wolf and bear.
